The present invention relates generally to testing, and more particularly to a method for testing a process or system based on risks associated with the process or system.
Traditional process and system testing generally focuses on two areas. The first area, referred to as functional testing, involves testing one or more specific functionalities of the process or system. Functional testing is conducted to determine whether the functions of the process or system work correctly. The second area, referred to as load testing, involves testing the amount of work a given process or system can accomplish. Load testing may address, for example, how many times each action in a process or system can be completed in a given time interval by the system. Load testing may also be used to determine whether a particular process or system has the capacity to effectively handle the expected volume of work.
Functional testing and load testing are typically conducted prior to the release of a system or process to ensure that the system/process will work correctly. The amount of effort involved in conducting functional and load testing, however, can be significant, particularly when every functionality of the process or system is tested. Furthermore, the cost of conducting functional and load testing of an entire system and process can be substantial in the case of a complex system or process. In some instances, the amount of work and the cost of conducting complete functional and load testing may not be justified.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method for testing a process or system which, among other things, was more cost effective than traditional methods of functional and load testing.